Bionic Woman (2007)
Bionic Woman is an American science fiction television drama created by David Eick which aired from September 26 to November 28, 2007 after eight episodes aired. The series was a re-imagining of the original TV series, "The Bionic Woman" created by Kenneth Johnson (which in turn was based upon Martin Caidin's novel, "Cyborg" and its TV adaptation, "The Six Million Dollar Man"). Plot The series revolved around bartender Jaime Sommers, who is saved from death after a car accident & receives experimental medical implants. While adjusting to her new android powers and raising a rebellious teenage sister, Jaime agrees to work for the Berkut Group, a quasi-governmental private organization that performed her surgery. Cast *Michelle Ryan as Jaime Sommers *Miguel Ferrer as Jonas Bledsoe *Molly Price as Ruth Treadwell *Will Yun Lee as Jae Kim *Lucy Hale as Becca Sommers *Chris Bowers as Will Anthros *Mark Sheppard as Anthony Anthros Recurring Cast *Katee Sackhoff as Sarah Corvus *Isaiah Washington as Antonio Pope *Kevin Rankin as Nathan *Jordan Bridges as Tom Production The first mention of a revision of "The Bionic Woman" series occurred in August of 2002 when a story in The Hollywood Reporter indicated that the series would be produced by Team Todd: sisters Jennifer and Suzanne Todd. The story quoted Suzanne Todd as saying: "We are going to take advantage of the fact that what seemed beyond the realm of reality back when they did the original show – some of the things in terms of advancement in prosthetics and in replacement limbs – are real in true life now. I think the idea that prosthetics exist in the world today and people make use of them – not in a superhero way the way that Jaime does – is going to allow us to do something really interesting and very different than the old show." It was later reported that the USA Network was considering airing the series, with Jennifer Aniston being in consideration for the lead role. In October of 2006, NBC Universal announced that it was bringing the project back with new producers, and reportedly a radical reworking of the original concept. The series would be written by Laeta Kalogridis (creator of the WB network series "Birds of Prey") and produced by David Eick. Eick commented on the new series saying, "It's a complete re-conceptualization of the title. We're using the title as a starting point, and that's all. It's going to be a meaningful departure the original." In January 2007, The Hollywood Reporter reported that the series one-hour pilot was given an official greenlight by NBC. On May 10, 2007, NBC announced that they had given an early pick-up to "Bionic Woman" for their fall 2007 schedule. Since the rights to the novel Cyborg by Martin Caidin were held by other parties, the new series excluded any overt elements from it (although it did not prevent the writers from giving Jaime elements of bionics from the original novel, such as a bionic eye). This was the same for the character Steve Austin from the "Six Million Dollar Man" (of which the original "The Bionic Woman" was a spin-off). Neither Kenneth Johnson nor Martin Caidin received screen credit on the new series, where they did in the original "Bionic Woman". Johnson has confirmed on his website that he had no involvement with the new "Bionic Woman" series. Lindsay Wagner (who portrayed the original Bionic Woman) also played no part in the new series. Wagner said, "On a technical level, it was very good, but I don't think they understood the show. It was steeped in that old-school thinking. It was like a lot of things today, angry and dark." WGA strike Due to a strike by the Writers Guild of America, production of the series was halted in mid-November 2007 and the regular actors were suspended on half-pay for a period of five weeks. The series has since aired all of the episodes that were completed before production halted. Several websites ran with rumors that Syndication had canceled the series, but an NBC Universal Media Studios spokesperson told the press that the show had not been canceled and that production of the first season would continue when the WGA strike ended. Upon the resolution of the strike, an Associated Press story classified "Bionic Woman" as being "on the bubble" and predicted that the remaining episodes would not air until the fall of 2008, "if ever." Syndication later published a report regarding initial series renewals, and no announcement was made regarding whether "Bionic Woman" would return in the fall. The report also indicated that despite the earlier statement by NBC Universal, production of the series' first season was considered to be concluded. Casting & Crew The pilot starred Michelle Ryan, Miguel Ferrer, Molly Price, Will Yun Lee, and Mae Whitman. In June of 2007, TV Guide reported that Mae Whitman was being replaced in the role of Jaime's sister. A Syndication spokesperson confirmed this, stating, "The decision was purely creatively driven. It is very common to change storylines, characters, actors after the initial pilot is shot." The character who was originally deaf had her hearing restored when requested by a Syndication executive. Lucy Hale was later cast as Whitman's replacement in July of 2007. In announcing the recasting, it was confirmed that the deaf trait of the character had been dropped; instead, Hale's version of the character is depicted as a rebellious teen and budding computer hacker. As Michelle Ryan is from England and naturally speaks with received pronunciation, she affects an American accent for her role as Sommers. (One notable exception to this occurs in the episode "The Education of Jaime Sommers" when Jaime assumes the guise of a British exchange student, allowing Ryan to use a variation of her natural accent). Katee Sackhoff was cast as Sarah Corvus, the first "Bionic Woman" and her character subsequently appeared in four episodes of the series (in addition to the series pilot). Sackhoff has compared the role to that of Number Six, a character in Sackhoff's concurrent series, "Battlestar Galactica". Sackhoff is joined by fellow "Galactica" co-stars Aaron Douglas as a prison guard appearing only in the series first episode, and Mark Sheppard as Will Anthros' father Anthony Anthros. Isaiah Washington appeared in at five episodes of the series, making his first appearance in "Paradise Lost", the first post-pilot episode. Bruce McGill was cast to play an as-yet-unnamed character who is a high ranking operative in the Bionics program. McGill's character had not yet appeared on the series by the time the WGA strike halted production. David Eick, Laeta Kalogridis, Jason Smilovic and Michael Dinner originally served as executive producers and writers. Dinner also directed the pilot, but exited his post as executive producer in June of 2007. Glen Morgan, writer and producer on "The X-Files, Space: Above and Beyond", and Millennium, joined the production team of "Bionic Woman" as an executive producer in May, only to leave four months later, citing creative differences. In September, "Friday Night Lights" executive producer Jason Katims joined the show as a consultant; Katims ran the writer's room until late October, when "Sopranos" veteran Jason Cahill was hired as the new showrunner. Broadcast History "Bionic Woman" premiered in the United States on the Syndication network on September 26, 2007, airing on Wednesday nights at 9:00/8:00c. It attained Syndication's highest midweek premiere ratings since the 1999 premiere of The West Wing, and was the second most watched program in its timeslot after Syndication's "Grey's Anatomy" spin off, "Private Practice." Due to the strike by the Writers Guild of America, production of the series was put on hiatus. Several media outlets reported that the show had been canceled, although there was no official confirmation from Syndication. An announcement of series renewals by Syndication did not indicate the fate of "Bionic Woman", although it was reported that production of the season was considered concluded. The SyFy Portal, citing a TV Guide column, suggested that the series cast and crew have been told that production has ended, although Syndication has made no official announcement as to the series' fate as of that date and the blog author stressed that the news was only a rumor. David Eick (the series' co-executive producer) confirmed on March 19, 2008 that the series had been canceled, although the network has still not officially announced it. "Bionic Woman" was subsequently not included in the Fall 2008 schedule announced by Syndication in early April 2008. As of September 2009, Syndication still had a Bionic Woman website running even though elements were disabled; The Syndication message boards have discontinued the "Bionic Woman" forum. Reception "Bionic Woman" was met with a largely negative reception from critics. Mary McNamara of the Los Angeles Times wished that the episodes following the pilot were just as good as the pilot itself and wanted Katee Sackhoff to play the lead role. Alessandra Stanley of The New York Times felt that the show was more about "fembot martial arts and slick Matrix-ish special effects" oriented toward young male viewers "rather than about character development." Tim Goodman of the San Francisco Chronicle felt that the remake was "a lot darker than the campy original", but said that "trouble lies in the casting and the concept." Goodman thought that "Ryan seems too inert, not nearly aggressive enough for the role" and that even Sackhoff was "infinitely more likable as an antiheroine". He said that they either "got the wrong bionic woman" or "they need to let the bad bionic woman get a whole lot more screen time." Michael Idato of The Age said that since the series had gone "through a series of writers and producers", it was "no surprise that what finally lands is a little messy." However, Idato said that "despite some early uncertainty, Ryan becomes a likable Sommers, leaving only the show's dark tone and relentless pace as potential problems." He said that they were great for setting up the story, "but could become too much as the season progresses." However, not all reviews were as optimistic; Michael Hinman of SyFy Portal referred to the show as "a disaster." Category:2000s television series Category:2007 Category:2007 endings Category:Syndication